Tesla Motors Stockholder Meeting - Tuesday, June 4

[Citizen-T]

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) tweeted at 10:35 PM on Tue, Jun 04, 2013:
Forgot to say one thing at Tesla annual shareholders meeting: just as my money was the first in, it will be the last out.
(Twitter / elonmusk: Forgot to say one thing at ...)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[kevin99]

The look on his face said no. I'm VERY GLAD you brought it up and he did seem very enthusiastic to do "something" but not sure that's it.

I don't see how the look said no. I am sure he will do something, knowing he is a fair person and the first one to acknowledge there are unpaid sale persons out there.

On my proposal, I see the actual cost of one year of service is more like $400, instead of the face value of $600. Because one of the benefit of EV is reduced maintenance cost so a lot of people might not need to visit the service center at all. Given $400, that is about 0.5% of the new sale on average. I can't believe a sale person in dealership makes less than 0.5% on commission. Anyone has some number to validate this? Even if a car dealer makes less than 0.5% on commission, there is a lot more cost in the dealers which does not exist at all for Model S owners.

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Loved your questions about the June 20th announcement (easily the best question of the night!) but I don't expect to see this proposa ever happening. Would be cool buy c'mon, anyone who has a Model S is going to evangelize it for free anyways!

You know what, if I knew the answer, I would've asked him in private and kept the answer to myself so I could buy more shares...

 

[ppl]

Hey I made the suggestion on that, and then I offered the proposal of giving one year of free service(value of $600) for each new sale. He thinks it is an interesting idea!
Go watch the video, at about 40 minutes.

i can see problems, like arguments of who referred the buyer and who really sells the car? the company of course creates the compelling product, the sales person at the store spends a fair amount of time at it. i dont think there is an early adapter that doesnt brag or sell the car. i think a better program maybe preferences when a current owner buys a second car. our accounts/vin numbers indicate when purchases made and who the early adopters that took a risk buying the car (who Elon has thanked many times). they could get either preference on delivery times or a discount on future cars when the company is more mature.

 

[kevin99]

i can see problems, like arguments of who referred the buyer and who really sells the car? the company of course creates the compelling product, the sales person at the store spends a fair amount of time at it. i dont think there is an early adapter that doesnt brag or sell the car. i think a better program maybe preferences when a current owner buys a second car. our accounts/vin numbers indicate when purchases made and who the early adopters that took a risk buying the car (who Elon has thanked many times). they could get either preference on delivery times or a discount on future cars when the company is more mature.

Those are problems already been solved in many other domains. Ever heard of internal referral bonus for a new hire in a company? how about earning credit in a fitness club by referring a friend? What is needed is the new buyer says who refers him/her, not the existing owner to claim or brag anything.

 

[austinEV]

I figure I will get my model S in 2 or 3 months. I think I will do a case study for how well the model S sells in clusters. I work at a medium sized tech company, and the parking garage has several hundred cars, none of which are teslas. I will put a little sign in the window that says "YES, you can drive it. text me at xxxx". Then I will arrange lunches and weekend get togethers. Keep a spreadsheet of who takes a ride, and keep track of who then gets one. Few 1%'s there, but a LOT of 10% in terms of income. I bet I can sell 20 I would evangelize anyway, but I will take notes. Tesla says 25% of test drives get one. I shouldn't get that high, since a lot will just be curious but I bet I can give out a LOT of test drives.

 

[callmesam]

I figure I will get my model S in 2 or 3 months. I think I will do a case study for how well the model S sells in clusters. I work at a medium sized tech company, and the parking garage has several hundred cars, none of which are teslas. I will put a little sign in the window that says "YES, you can drive it. text me at xxxx". Then I will arrange lunches and weekend get togethers. Keep a spreadsheet of who takes a ride, and keep track of who then gets one. Few 1%'s there, but a LOT of 10% in terms of income. I bet I can sell 20 I would evangelize anyway, but I will take notes. Tesla says 25% of test drives get one. I shouldn't get that high, since a lot will just be curious but I bet I can give out a LOT of test drives.

Great point and I actually had an idea that owners could put together a matching app that would allow us to find people that had signed up for test drives in states that don't allow them by Tesla.

If you give a certain number of test drives or any that result in sales, then Tesla could reward our ingenuity.

 

[austinEV]

Great point and I actually had an idea that owners could put together a matching app that would allow us to find people that had signed up for test drives in states that don't allow them by Tesla.

If you give a certain number of test drives or any that result in sales, then Tesla could reward our ingenuity.

Right, I forgot to mention I am in Texas. A better natural experiment, since I would be the only salesman giving test drives, short of some other looney like me.

 

[bonnie]

If Tesla reimburses you, wouldn't they then be in violation of the law? By accepting compensation, you would become a sales person. They are incentivizing you to act on their behalf.

Probably not going to put a program like that in place. Plus, there are additional issues like who do they compensate if more than one Model S owner has evangelized to the same customer ... paperwork on this would be 'not fun'.

 

[JRod0802]

I believe in the past, Elon has brought up the fact that the auto retail experience is consistently rated as the worst retail experience in the country for two reasons: the price of the car isn't fixed (so there's haggling), and the sales people are on commission (so they have something to gain by not offering you the full truth). This makes car buying really stressful. It's time we change both of those things. No more haggling! No more commission for sales!

If Tesla gives you a benefit for selling one of their cars, you're on commission. While I haven't done any studies on this, and I totally could be wrong, I believe it would actually hurt their sales to create a whole bunch of third party sales people who are on commission. Better to be straight up and simple. If someone wants a test drive, come in to the store. Talk to someone who won't gain benefit from your ordering the car. You'll know you're being offered the full truth, and there won't be any stress.

I'm sure you, Kevin, wouldn't lie just to get a sale. But certainly not everyone out there is as honest. Better for Tesla not to get mixed up with that.

Also, and I think this is important, when a friend / coworker shows you their car knowing that they'll get nothing in return for you ordering one, but they show you anyway, there's a certain power in that. You know they must have a really great product on their hands if they're willing to go out of their way, even for nothing in return.


Edit: That being said, I fully support Tesla giving out a plaque or trophy or something else of non-monetary value to people who convince someone else to buy the car. Recognition from Tesla would still be pretty cool. Just as long as money (or something of monetary value) isn't involved.

 

[avatar]

Was is it just me that was completely and totally moved by Elon's presentation today? There is something so genuine and honest about the guy. I could feel the pain in his voice as he talked about NADA crowing over their victory as a perversion of democracy. He is an idealist through and through and seeing his pain really got to me.

I don't like to be emotionally involved with companies but Elon's struggle strikes such a deep chord for me. He is trying to do the right thing so much. I hope he inspires a generation of entrepreneurs to think and act like him. I suspect his real legacy will be the hearts and minds he will have changed.

 

[kevin99]

If Tesla reimburses you, wouldn't they then be in violation of the law? By accepting compensation, you would become a sales person. They are incentivizing you to act on their behalf.

I think you guys are thinking too much and over-complicating things. This is simply a referral reward program, no compensation, no sales, no violation of laws, no lying and bragging, none of these bad stuff you guys are suggesting.

Think of getting A FREE ONE WEEK REFERRAL REWARDS PASS TO GIVE TO YOUR FRIEND TO TRY OUT THE CLUB! , like in
Referral Rewards | MVP Sports Clubs.

Personally, last month when I walked into Saratoga Star Aquatic, they told me I've been credited with $30 toward my account because one of my friend signed up and mentioned I refer them. It is just that simple.

 

[jeff_adams]

How about something a little more simple? AMEX has a party for their Centurian (black card) customers once a year.

Maybe Tesla can do something nice regionally for those referring business. Recognition awards for most referrals, drawings for nice prizes, ect. Basically a celebration dinner. Maybe the very highest can get flown out to Freemont and have a special event associated with Gen3 rollout (like test drives of the prototype)

 

[austinEV]

I think you guys are thinking too much and over-complicating things. This is simply a referral reward program, no compensation, no sales, no violation of laws, no lying and bragging, none of these bad stuff you guys are suggesting.

Think of getting A FREE ONE WEEK REFERRAL REWARDS PASS TO GIVE TO YOUR FRIEND TO TRY OUT THE CLUB! , like in
Referral Rewards | MVP Sports Clubs.

Personally, last month when I walked into Saratoga Star Aquatic, they told me I've been credited with $30 toward my account because one of my friend signed up and mentioned I refer them. It is just that simple.

I agree with both responses. 1) Tesla probably shouldn't deputize owners to be official salespeople because they might be bad at it and 2) it really might be illegal in Texas. I don't care, and if I got arrested for taking a tesla keychain for selling 20 model S' then I would think there would be some lawyers helping me pro bono. That would be a funny case to take to the supreme court.

I will accept a congratulatory phone call from Elon in liu of payment.

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Was is it just me that was completely and totally moved by Elon's presentation today? There is something so genuine and honest about the guy. I could feel the pain in his voice as he talked about NADA crowing over their victory as a perversion of democracy. He is an idealist through and through and seeing his pain really got to me.

I don't like to be emotionally involved with companies but Elon's struggle strikes such a deep chord for me. He is trying to do the right thing so much. I hope he inspires a generation of entrepreneurs to think and act like him. I suspect his real legacy will be the hearts and minds he will have changed.

It wasn't just you. That actually removed the last of my doubts regarding TMC.

 

[cb32000]

Since the dealers are such a problem could tesla set up a one day tesla rental company and then have people buy online?

 

[kenliles]

Was is it just me that was completely and totally moved by Elon's presentation today? There is something so genuine and honest about the guy. I could feel the pain in his voice as he talked about NADA crowing over their victory as a perversion of democracy. He is an idealist through and through and seeing his pain really got to me.

I don't like to be emotionally involved with companies but Elon's struggle strikes such a deep chord for me. He is trying to do the right thing so much. I hope he inspires a generation of entrepreneurs to think and act like him. I suspect his real legacy will be the hearts and minds he will have changed.

Well said avatar. He's tough too -- nobody should take that emotion as weakness, it's all strength of character

 

[vfx]

Kevin I was there and thought about your suggestion over dinner later. I like it!

For those that don't know, Tesla had a referral reward program for the Roadster. It was $500 for each Roadster sold. They gave you a (stack) of special Tesla business cards to fill in your contact info and give one to the potential buyer. That person would give the card with your name on at the store when purchasing and you would get the $$$.

 

[30seconds]

Tough crowd today. All he did was tell you demand is higher than previously anticipated, the global service and showroom network is rolling out faster and much larger than would be needed for a niche product, confirmed X timing, guided gen 3 timing to 2016 not 2017 and literally told us that there is way more upside to the superchargers.

no way that any other company is close to this

this is going to be a very disrupting company.

 

[cb32000]

Since the dealers are such a problem could tesla set up a one day tesla rental company and then have people buy online?

Actually could Tesla use their service center which already gives loaner cars that can be purchased to sell cars? Could they rent the loaners out for a day for people to "test drive"? Then people could buy them online.

 

[kevin99]

I agree with both responses. 1) Tesla probably shouldn't deputize owners to be official salespeople because they might be bad at it and 2) it really might be illegal in Texas. I don't care, and if I got arrested for taking a tesla keychain for selling 20 model S' then I would think there would be some lawyers helping me pro bono. That would be a funny case to take to the supreme court.

That is just nonsense.

 

[Causalien]

I don't like the incentives. Once there is an incentive, pushy sales people will be attracted to it, perverting the experience. What if they rack up 20years worth of free service and then resale that car at a higher price? I am for some sort of, recognition, but not at the cost of associating the brand with pushy sales.